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Dirk Bouts, 'Christ Crowned with Thorns', about 1470

About the work

Christ wears the rich cloak and the crown of thorns in which, according to the Gospels, he was dressed before he was crucified. But the wounds of the Passion (his torture and crucifixion) indicate that he has already died and been resurrected.

Bouts brings Jesus’s torments vividly to life, showing him close up and in agonising detail. Our eyes are drawn to the blue shadows of the thorns thrust deep into his forehead and those around the holes in his hands. His translucent tears mingle with the blood dripping down his face.

This graphic image might seem shocking now, but in the late fifteenth century images of the weeping and suffering Christ were very popular, and were produced in large numbers in the workshop of Bouts and his followers. Small devotional paintings like this were used to aid private prayer.

Key facts

Full title
Christ Crowned with Thorns
Artist
Dirk Bouts
Artist dates
1400? - 1475
Date made
about 1470
Medium and support
oil, originally on wood, transferred to canvas
Dimensions
43.8 × 37.1 cm
Acquisition credit
Bequeathed by Mrs Joseph H. Green, 1880
Inventory number
NG1083
Location
Not on display
Collection
Main Collection
Previous owners
Frame
21st-century Replica Frame

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

More works by Dirk Bouts

(Showing 6 of 7 works)
Portrait of a Man (Jan van Winckele?)
Portrait of a Man (Jan van Winckele?)
Dirk Bouts
A fair-haired man stands in an interior, gazing past us. Through the window behind him we can see a landscape with a church in the distance. The date on the back wall makes this the earliest datable – and in fact the only dated painting – by Bouts, and the earliest dated portrait to include an op...
Not on display
The Entombment
The Entombment
Dirk Bouts
Christ’s body, wrapped in a white shroud, is being placed in a tomb by his grief-stricken family and followers. His mother Mary, clasping his wrist, seems on the edge of collapse; John the Evangelist holds her up. Behind them are Mary’s sisters, one wiping tears from her eyes, the other holding h...
Not on display
The Virgin and Child
The Virgin and Child
Dirk Bouts
The Virgin and Christ Child are seen as if at an open window, with the infant perched on the sill. Mary gazes lovingly at her son and offers him her breast; images of the Virgin breastfeeding emphasised Christ’s humanity and vulnerability.Small religious panels like this were used as an aid to pr...
Not on display
Christ Crowned with Thorns
Christ Crowned with Thorns
Workshop of Dirk Bouts
This small picture once made up a diptych (a folding painting in two parts) with another in our collection, the Mater Dolorosa. It was probably intended for private devotion: Christ’s pain was meant to inspire empathy in the viewer, who was encouraged to meditate upon his suffering as a means of...
Not on display
Mater Dolorosa
Mater Dolorosa
Workshop of Dirk Bouts
This small painting of the sorrowing Virgin once went with another painting in our collection, Christ Crowned with Thorns. They originally made up a diptych, a folding painting in two parts. It was probably intended for private prayer: the Virgin’s grief was intended to inspire empathy in the vie...
Not on display
The Virgin and Child
The Virgin and Child
Workshop of Dirk Bouts
The Virgin and Child are shown as an affectionate mother and laughing infant. Christ holds an apple, alluding to the fruit with which Eve tempted Adam in the biblical story of the Garden of Eden, leading to the Fall of Man.Devotion to Mary was an important part of a great flowering of private rel...
Not on display
You've viewed 6 of 7 works